


Resonance

by AmberLehcar



Category: Soul Eater
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-22
Updated: 2014-08-18
Packaged: 2018-01-26 04:26:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1674674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmberLehcar/pseuds/AmberLehcar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Appleseed!AU Pulled from the battlefields of WWIII, Maka Albarn is tasked with protecting the Utopian city of Mors as terrorists threaten the lives of bioroids, artificially created humans. Along with trying to discover the terrorists, she must sort out her feelings for her new cyborg companion and unlock the secrets of the program "Resonance".</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Welcome to Utopia

She tumbled away from the action and behind a slightly destroyed pillar as soon as she figured out she was out of ammo.  No use holding on to any extra weight.  She tossed aside her gun and unsheathed a hunting knife, the one gift she was glad she had received from her father.  Blades were always more her thing anyway.  Most of her company had been wiped out already, their bodies strewn about the cement arena.  Now it was just her and the enemy.  Even the Angel of Death knew that she was heavily outnumbered and probably outmatched.  She had to get away.  

Peeking her head out from behind the pillar, she looked for an escape route.  Shots fired over her head, sending her back to her hiding spot.  If she played her cards right, she could find enough cover to make it.  The odds were not going to be in her favor, but then again, they rarely were.  Taking a deep breath, she made a run for it.  A few foot soldiers ran up to her, having discovered her hiding spot.  She made quick work of them with the knife.  She had an opening and chose to take it.  Sliding feet first underneath one of the enemy’s tanks, she was certain she was going to make it.

And then the shit storm arrived.  Multiple choppers hovered above her arena, mauling down any foot soldiers still following her, blowing up entire tanks.  She knew better than to think the pilots were allies.  Once her previous adversaries were dealt with, all guns were pointed at her.  She had to make it, she just had to.  But before she could even reach the edge of the arena, she was stunned by an attack, knocked out cold, but very much alive.

High heels clicked on the cement as a tall woman made her way to the girl on the ground.  “Correct, it’s really her,” she confirmed over the headset.  A man joined her side.  “A lot of people say she takes after Spirit, but I don’t see the resemblance.  Still, she’s awfully cute when she’s asleep, huh?”

“She looks like her mother.”  The man slung the unconscious girl over her shoulder.  “Special Agent Evans reporting in.  We have Second Lieutenant Maka Albarn in our custody.  Miss Nakatsukasa and I will head back to Mors immediately.”

“I really hope she’ll like it there, in our little utopia,” Miss Nakatsuakasa chirped, following Evans closely behind as they made their way back to the helicopter.

“Utopia, huh…?”

…

She was vaguely aware of the beeping around her.  Gradually, it became louder as her grogginess cleared, and she realized the sound was coming from a heart monitor, presumably hooked up to herself.  So she wasn’t dead after all.  Or at least, not yet.  She had been trained for situations like this.  She was ready.  She listened for signs of anyone else in the room.  Footsteps.  Heels clicking.  A woman no doubt.  Coming closer to her.  Her muscles tensed.  She would not go down that easily.

“She sure knows how to sleep,” the woman in heels mused.  “I hope she’s okay.  Don’t people wake up by now?”  She felt the woman reach for her face and snapped. 

She leaped from the hospital gurney, ripping cables and IVs from her skin as she moved, and spun around the woman, catching her in a headlock.  Hospital personnel poured into the room suddenly.  “Move and I’ll snap her neck,” she threatened calmly, making her way to the door.  “I’m leaving here the same way I came in, through the front door.  And none of you will get in my way.”

She felt a presence behind her and heard a voice rumble, “After all the work it took to get you here?  I don’t think so, Tiny Tits.”  Somehow, the body behind her was able to twist her arms in order to free the woman from her grasp.  She felt cold steel on one of her arms.  Who was this man?  “Maka Albarn, aka Angel of Death?  Pretty harmless if you ask me.”

“Lemme go, and I’ll show you ‘harmless’,” she spat, struggling to release herself from his grip.

“Look, we aren’t the bad guys here!  If it wasn’t for us, your ass would be toast by now!” the man growled in her ear.  “Now, my orders are to take you to your new home and make sure you don’t disturb the peace.  Think you can calm down enough?  Need to talk to you about Spirit Albarn.”

“He died, okay?!  Died in the war I should be fighting in right now!  Now let me go!”

The woman, having now recovered from Maka’s hold on her, stepped towards the two.  “There is no war anymore.  It’s been done for a while now.  You fought a meaningless fight.  Now, please, cooperate with us and let us take you to your new home.”  The woman ended with a smile and a hand out to the girl.

“You sure, Tsubaki?” the man asked.  She nodded, and he loosened his grip on Maka.

Neither of them had to worry about any more violence from her.  The girl was completely stunned.  “The war… is over…?”

…

“Sorry for sort of dropping this all on you at once.  If you don’t completely believe it, I understand,” Tsubaki said before sipping from her cup of tea.  “I understand your father died in the war?  I’m very sorry for your loss…”

The three of them conversed in what was now Maka’s living room, the two women on the couch, the man staring idly out the enormous window.  “You’re telling me that World War III ended and there was no clear winner?  That it was all for nothing?” Maka asked, her face in her hands.

“Well, that’s war for you,” the woman answered.  “But here in Mors, we have no war!”

“Then why bring me here?”

“Even utopia needs guardians, right?”  Tsubaki placed her teacup back on the coaster before her.  “But anyway, you should get some rest.  Tomorrow is another big day for you, so I’ll leave you be.”  She got up and watched Maka’s eyes flick over to the man who had held her arms at the hospital.  “Don’t worry, Soul is here to watch over you while you sleep.  You are perfectly safe in his care.  He’s one of the best, you know?  Now, go to bed.  I’ll be by in the morning, good night!”  And with that, she left the two in silence.

Maka eyed the white-haired man cautiously.  Not many could hold her back like he had.  “Who are you?” she asked, certain he had to be a soldier of some sort.

“Special Agent Soul Evans,” he answered, keeping his attention set on the city below.  “Work for a special organization, the one that brought you here.”

“Lemme guess, you want me on your team, huh?” she replied half sarcastically.

“If you’re anything like Spirit was, yeah, we do.  Heard some good stuff about you.  People don’t go naming girls ‘Angel of Death’ for no reason.”

She didn’t respond.  The name had never really set well with her.  Besides, she was tired of talking about her and what a great soldier she was supposed to be.  She was far more interested in her new bodyguard’s left, and very steely, arm.  “What happened to you?  You know… with your arm…?”

Soul turned so his left arm was farther from her, clearly bothered by her questioning.  “I… met your mother…”

Maka jumped from her seat.  “You knew my mother?!”

He turned his head to her, one crimson eye trained on her face.  “You should get some sleep.  We’ll talk more when Tsubaki comes over.”  He walked past her and flicked on the light in the master bedroom.  “Here.  I’ll be on the couch if you need anything.”  She moved as if to ask him more questions, but he simply nodded his head in the direction of her room, silently telling her to get moving.

She pouted and did as she was instructed, watching him make his way back to the couch.  “Thank you.  For saving me,” she offered from the doorway.

“Don’t mention it.”

With one last look at the man on her couch, Maka closed the door to her room.  Her room in her home.  How long had it been since she had been in a home?  Or a room?  Or had a decent bed for that matter?  Thoughts of her conversations with Tsubaki and Soul swirled around her mind, and she fell backwards onto her (it was still weird calling it hers) bed.  She hoped that sleep would catch up with her eventually, that she could find comfort in the soft down of the pillows and the warmth of the sheets. 

But the softness and comfort was almost too soft and comfortable.  Sleep evaded her, and after hours of tossing and turning, she finally curled into a ball in the corner of the room, her father’s hunting knife in her grasp just in case.  Finally, she felt at home, comfortable.  And she let sleep take her.


	2. In the Company of Bioroids

The darkened room was thick with the smoke of candles set in their sconces on the walls.  She struggled to breathe, trying to escape his grasp.  Those red eyes of his stared hungrily at her as he licked his sharpened teeth.  His steel arm grew tiny red and black blades, drawing little trickles of blood from her arms.  She had come so far only to be beaten by him.  She watched in horror as he chuckled menacingly at her and aimed to attack her throat…

Maka jumped into a battle-ready stance, her hunting knife still in hand.  It took a moment for her to realize that she was safe, that she was not in that black room at all, but rather _her_ room.  She fell backwards to the floor with a sigh.  “It was just a dream…” she murmured, throwing an arm over her eyes.  Nightmares weren’t new to her.  She was a solider after all.  She had seen plenty of horrors in her waking hours; it made sense that they would haunt her sleeping ones as well.  She thought of the man she had allowed to sleep on her couch while she slept.  He was a stranger.  For all she knew, he was supposed to be an assassin whose plan was to lull her into a false sense of security until he felt it was the opportune moment to strike.  She knew better than to trust people.  That’s how her father died.  That’s how her mother left her.  That’s how she had been hurt numerous times in the past.  “Guess I’ll never learn.”

“Maka!” a voice called from the other side of her bedroom door, a quick knock accompanying the voice.  The soldier tensed again.  She wished it wasn’t her knee-jerk reaction.  “It’s Tsubaki!  I came by to give you a tour of the city, remember?”

Reluctantly, she set her hunting knife on the bedside table.  She might as well try to play along, even if it was all just a trap.  Tsubaki smiled warmly at her as she opened the door.  “Tour of the city, huh?  In these rags?” Maka asked, motioning to her tattered uniform.  She had been so tired the night before that the idea of changing out of her clothes hadn’t even crossed her mind.

“I took the liberty of buying you some clothes while you were still unconscious at the hospital.  I hope you don’t mind.”  Tsubaki entered the room and opened the closet door, revealing a few different tops and bottoms, brand new and very stylish.  “Here’s hoping there is at least one outfit to your liking.  Go ahead and change, I’ll meet you at the car outside when you’re ready.”

As the woman turned to leave, Maka stopped her by asking, “What about Evans?”

“Oh, Soul?  I sent him home when I got here.  He stayed up all night making sure you were okay.  Even a cyborg like him needs his rest, right?  Don’t worry about him, it’ll just be a girls’ day for us.”  She winked at the girl and waved goodbye before heading out the door.

Maka leaned on her bedroom’s doorframe.  “A cyborg?  So it’s more than just the arm then?” she whispered.  Her thoughts drifted to those piercing red eyes, the ones that had looked like they could stare into her soul.  Maybe there was a great secret behind those eyes.  Pushing herself off the frame, she turned to her new wardrobe.  She appreciated Tsubaki’s kindness, but she felt like the girly outfits that hung in the closet weren’t exactly suited for a soldier such as herself.  Not that she didn’t enjoy dressing like a girl.  She just hadn’t for such a long time.  Eventually she settled for a nice combination of girly and tough, black leather boots and jacket combo with a red plaid skirt.  The only problem with the ensemble?  No place for her knife.  “Whatever.  If utopia is as it should be, I won’t be needing it.”

Tsubaki seemed incredibly excited to see her when she exited her home.  “You look great!  Hop in!”

“Where are we going?”

“City Hall.  All the higher ups want to meet you, you know?  You’re kind of a legend.”  The woman sunk into the driver’s seat of the vehicle, Maka taking her place in the passenger’s.  “They probably want to show you off, too, to be honest.  That our utopia has one of the greatest warriors guarding it now.”

“So how do you keep the peace here?  Aside from muscle-heads like Cyborg-Boy,” Maka asked as they pulled away from her home.

“Half the population is pure bioroid,” Tsubaki answered matter-of-factly. 

“Bioroid?”

“Don’t tell me you don’t know!” she exclaimed.  She sighed and turned her focus back on the road as they made their way through the city.  “Bioroids are artificially created humans.  Their genetic makeup is nearly identical to humans, so you can’t really tell them apart.  I bet you didn’t know I was a bioroid, too, did you?”  Maka shook her head, eyeing the woman cautiously.  “Although technically physically superior to humans, bioroids by no means wish to dominate them.  Our role is to protect the peace.  Human emotions are so unpredictable and lead to conflict, eventually war.  Bioroids don’t experience a full range of emotion like humans do, as many have been suppressed.  We don’t argue or get jealous, but we can’t love either.  We act as role models for humans, in a sense.”

“Who’s idea was all that?”

“That’s why I’m so surprised you don’t know.  Your mother was the lead researcher on bioroid technology, before she disappeared, of course.  She used her husband’s genetic code to create bioroids.  Your father’s DNA can be found in half the population of Mors!”

“Some things never change huh?  It was the same way back in Nevada,” Maka said, venom on her lips.

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing, forget I said anything.”  The soldier set her elbow on the armrest and rested her face on her knuckles.  Being angry and bitter about her father’s past mistakes was pointless.  He was gone.  There was no one to be angry at.  Her eyes flickered up to the rearview mirror for a moment before returning to the road.  But a double-take was in order.  A van behind them was just a little too close for comfort.  “Hey, Tsubaki, take a left up here, would you?”

“What?  Why?”

“Just a theory.”  Tsubaki did as she was instructed.  The van followed closely behind, just as Maka had predicted.  “We’re being followed,” she informed her driver.  Suddenly, she took the wheel and jerked the car over into a nearby alley.  Being who she was, Maka knew better than to take chances with a vehicle following her.  It usually meant trouble, and she didn’t want Tsubaki involved.  Halfway out of the passenger’s seat, the blonde took control of the steering and maneuvered the car through back alleyways, the van still hot on their trail.  She watched two figures leap out of the van, leaving it to crash into the buildings behind them.  One of the figures lobbed an object up and over the car, far ahead of them.

Maka realized too late that it was a bomb.  It detonated, crashing the car in the middle of the alley.  Although very shaken, both women appeared to be okay.  “What was that…?” Tsubaki asked, holding her head in her hands.

“Just another day in paradise,” the younger woman replied.  “I’ll take care of them, you stay here.”  She exited the car to face her adversaries.  They were feminine-looking robots, one silver, holding what Maka guessed were more bombs, and one pink, with elongated and probably sharpened fingernails.  “Yeah, that’s about right,” she sighed, regretting leaving her knife at home.

She rushed towards the two, sweeping a leg under her targets.  Both dodged easily.  The silver one threw another bomb at her feet.  She back-flipped away just in time before it detonated.  Lunging at the bomb carrier, she landed a swift punch to the side of its head.  It knocked her back into the side of a building with its own punched aimed at her stomach.  Grabbing her throat, it held her against the wall, another bomb ready to blow in its hands.  A bullet knocked it away before it could be activated.

Both soldier and robot looked to the source of the bullet to find her white-haired bodyguard, armed and ready to fire again.  “Soul!” she exclaimed before kicking the robot away from her. 

Soul shot a few more rounds at the silver robot.  It attempted to lob more bombs at him, but the bullets rendered them and it useless in no time.  A few acrobatic flips from the pink robot brought it closer to him.  It made quick work of the gun in his hands with its blades, slicing it to ribbons.  This didn’t faze him.  A well aimed kick sent the robot flying back to Maka.  With one final punch from the blonde to the face, it crumpled to the ground, immobilized. 

Maka watched its jaws move as it tried to speak.  She came closer and heard it repeat the words “The secret of Resonance must never be unlocked.”  Another shot fired, silencing the machine.  She looked to Soul, now holding a smoking handgun.  He must have had a spare with him.

“This going to be a regular thing for us, Tiny Tits?” he asked with a grin.  “You get yourself in trouble, and I come in to save your ass?”

She glared defiantly at him.  “No one asked for your help!  I could have handled them myself!”

“Right, so you weren’t about to be blown to smithereens before I got here?”

She moved to argue with him, but Tsubaki finally stepped in.  “If you don’t mind, we do have an appointment to get to.  Shinigami has been excited to finally meet you, Maka.  Wouldn’t want to keep him waiting, would we?”

“Guess we’ll continue this another time then,” Soul said.  He motioned to his motorcycle at the other, still somehow undamaged, end of the alley.  “Think you can handle that thing?” he asked Maka.  “I gotta take care of the mess you made or Spartoi’ll be on my ass.”

“Anyone can drive it if you can,” she scoffed as she and Tsubaki climbed aboard the motorcycle.  She had only driven one once before.  But it was like riding a bike, right?  You never forget.

“Just don’t get into another accident, you got me?  That thing’s my baby, and I don’t want to have to take it back to Black Star to get it fixed again!” he shouted as they pulled away, headed for City Hall.


	3. Guardians of Mors

Tsubaki pushed open the enormous doors and happily strode on into the office.  “Hello, Shinigami!  Sorry for being so late.  We ran into a bit of trouble on the way here.”  She pulled Maka by the arm further into the room to introduce her.  “Here she is, our special guest, Maka Albarn, safe and sound!”  The blonde stared blankly at the old man dressed in black as his somehow hovering chair came closer to the two women.  This frail looking man was one of the leaders of Mors?

“Oooh!  Yes, yes, the rumors are certainly right about the Angel of Death being very beautiful!” he said, circling around to inspect her.  “It’s good to have you here, Maka, and I’m sorry that your first experiences in Mors have been… well, less than satisfactory.”

“Everyone is safe now, so really, it’s okay,” she assured him and bowed slightly.  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Shinigami.”

“And such nice manners to match!” he said with a smile.  “But I’m sure you are far more interested in meeting Shibusen.” He moved out of her line of sight to reveal a large screen.  “I bet that Tsubaki left explaining Shibusen to me, didn’t she?”  The bioroid nodded with a nervous grin.  “Shibusen is a super computer that monitors all aspects of life in Mors,” he explained.  “All decisions regarding Mors are made by discussion between myself, Prime Minister Akihito, and Shibusen.  It is a thinking computer, always coming up with new ways to improve the city.  It also monitors the effects of bioroid interaction with humans, so as to make sure they do not cause too much unease in the humans.”

“Bioroids bother humans that much, sir?” Maka asked. 

“There are quite a few humans in Mors who think that bioroids mean them more harm than good,” he explained.  “This is why Shibusen closely monitors them, and all but two are not allowed to carry any weaponry.  The regular army is comprised solely of humans. 

“Bioroid emotional capabilities and reproductive functions have been suppressed so that they do not pose a threat to humans.  They have a much shorter life-span than humans, and because they cannot reproduce, they must undergo life-extension processes after a certain amount of time or else age rapidly and die in a matter of hours.”  He turned to Tsubaki, worry etched into the wrinkles on his face.  “Come to think of it, aren’t you due for a procedure yourself, Tsubaki?”

“Don’t you worry, I plan on having the procedure done in the next couple of days.”

“Good, I’m very glad to hear that!  Tsubaki works alongside a special task force called Spartoi.  You’ve already met one of its members, Soul Evans?” Shinigami asked, now turning his attention to Maka.

“Yeah, and you want me to join, correct?”  The idea of working with that muscle-headed cyborg bothered her a bit.

Shinigami shook his head slowly.  “I can’t really make you join with anyone you don’t want to.  You are welcome to live a civilian life here if you’d like.  You’d make a wonderful candidate for either Spartoi or the regular army, though.  I’m sure General Gorgon would rather you join the regular army.  She’s had her eye on you for some time now.”

“Can I give it a day to think it over, sir?” the soldier asked.

“Absolutely!  Now, go on and enjoy the rest of the day!  You ladies deserve some time off after that scare earlier!”  He shooed them out of the office and returned to Shibusen’s screen.  “I’m certain that was another terrorist attack.  How did they learn she was in the city so quickly…?”

…

“Here!  Quickly, this way!” Tsubaki giggled as she tugged on Maka’s arm.  “There’s someone here you should meet.  I think you’ll become great friends if you choose to join Spartoi!”

“Okay okay, just don’t yank my arm off!”  She smiled.  She was actually beginning to enjoy her new life in Mors, despite the few bumps along the way. 

“His name is Black Star, and he’s the best mechanic in all of Mors,” the bioroid explained.  “See all these mechs?  He calls them Landmates, or ‘his babies’ depending on who he’s talking to.”  She continued to giggle like a school girl as they finally made their way to an open hangar, a single man with bright blue hair standing in the center.  “Black Star, I brought Maka here to see you!”

“So you’re the one needing a new Landmate, huh?  Must be something special if they called me in so quick with an ‘emergency order’,” he said with a big grin, his arms crossed over his chest.  “Soul wasn’t kidding though, they are tiny!”

Maka pouted.  “Good thing I might not be joining your little team.  I won’t have to take shit from you or Cyborg-Boy.”

Black Star laughed.  “Eh, I get the feeling you’ll be joining us soon enough.  And if you really think you aren’t, I’d go tell Cyborg-Boy that.”  He nodded over to a nearby hallway.  “He seems pretty excited to have you join, so let him down easy, okay?”

Tsubaki waved her on down the hallway, and Maka sighed as she walked.  She wasn’t exactly eager to continue their bickering, but at the same time, she had some questions that needed answers.

The hallway led to a locker room.  Soul sat on a bench, packing up whatever clothes he must have just changed out of.  Feeling like she was walking on eggshells, she tried to smile at him.  “Hey.”  No response.  He didn’t even bother to look up at her, just continued shifting items around in his duffle bag.  “Hey, don’t ignore me!”  Still no response.  “What’s your deal?  Black Star says you want me on your stupid team, but then all you do is either ignore me or give me shit!  Can’t you at least try to be nice?”

“Sorry, I’m busy.” He pushed himself off the bench and went back to his open locker to meddle with its contents a bit.

“I still have some questions about earlier.  What were those things?”

“I don’t know,” he answered in a bored voice, head still buried in the locker.

“Where did they come from?  What did they want?”

“I don’t know.”

“What the hell is ‘Resonance’?!”

“I don’t know.”

“Stop answering me like a damn machine!”  She watched his spine stiffen at her words and his right hand grasp his metal arm.  “I… I’m sorry… I didn’t mean…”

He took a deep breath and slammed the locker door shut, returning to the bench to grab his duffle bag.  “You wanna know, don’t you?  About me becoming a cyborg?”  She thought it over, hoping she wasn’t asking too much, and gave a slight nod.  “Was in the war, too.  Early, way early in the war.  There was… an accident…  Lost my arm, went blind, hurt pretty bad.”  His hands gripped the shoulder strap tightly.  “Your mom worked with amputees long before developing the bioroids.  She made them new limbs.  Guess she saw me and wanted to give me my eyes back, too.  That’s why they’re so red, you know?  Machines.  Later I learned she’d helped out Mors, built bioroids, all that stuff.  I came here looking to repay my debt, but she was already gone.”

She stared down at her feet.  “So you don’t know where she is either…?”

“No.  Sorry.”  He walked over to her and ruffled her hair a bit.  “Stay out of trouble now, you here?  It’s my mission to protect you.”

“Your mission…?” she asked as he walked away towards the hangar.  She watched him sling the duffle bag over his shoulder and found herself smiling like an idiot for reasons she didn’t understand.  “Hey!” she shouted down the hallway.  “Where do I sign up for this Spartoi thing?”

“Meet here tomorrow, 9 am!” he shouted over his shoulder.  He smirked.  Somehow he’d known she wouldn’t be able to stay away from Spartoi.


	4. Little to Do With Intellect

Completely worn out, Maka slumped onto a bar stool.  “Rum and coke,” she said as the bartender made his way to her.  She sighed and took the hairband out of her hair, letting her blonde locks fall down her shoulders.  It had been a long day, but it was worth it.  Stein had been impressed with her during her test.  Starting out with only a knife, she had managed to take out sixteen of his men in only ten minutes.  Her paperwork was finished in record time as well.

“They didn’t tell us we had our asses kicked by the legendary Maka Albarn,” a soldier nearby shouted at her.  She turned to see three men she had sparred with from Spartoi.  Rung, Ford, and Éclair if she remembered correctly.  “’Angel of Death’, right?” Rung continued.  “People are still talking about how much of a badass you were in the war!”

She smiled politely and turned back towards the bar.  The bartender handed her her drink.  “Angel of Death” had never suited her.  She had just been doing her job, that was all.  It seemed that she would never shake the nickname.

“Mind if I join you?” a sweet voice next to her asked.  Tsubaki took a seat next to her, already having her own drink.  “Congratulations on making Spartoi.  Black Star was glad his work on the new Landmate wasn’t for nothing.  Soul seems pretty happy about it, too.  Not that he’d tell you if you asked him.”  She giggled a bit before taking a sip of her drink.  “So how long have you liked Soul?”

“What?” Maka exclaimed.

The bioroid looked at her in confusion.  “I just thought you had feelings for him.  The way you look at him indicates as much.”

She shook her head violently.  “No, no, we’re just… just comrades, okay?  Besides, I should be asking about you and Black Star.”

“What do you mean?”

“You two seem pretty close.”

Tsubaki stared into her drink.  “He was the first to accept me into Spartoi.  Most members are humans, and my presence made them a bit uncomfortable.  But he accepted me instantly and has been a good friend since.”

“Never more than that?”

“Could never be more than that.  Remember that bioroids have many of their emotions repressed.  That includes love.  We can form friendships and know kindness, but never love like humans do.  I can understand it on an intellectual level, but love has little to do with intellect.”  She stretched out her arm across the bar and laid her cheek on it.  “It’s a bit disappointing.  Even if he looked at me the way you look at Soul, I could never look at him that way.  It’s the one thing I envy about humans…”

Voice caught in her throat, Maka did not know what to say.  She tried to find the words to comfort her friend, but before they could leave her mouth, the sound of glass shattering pulled her away from their conversation.  She turned to see a soldier she had not met before tugging on a waitress’ inky pigtail.

“Watch what you’re doing, you bioroid bitch!” he spat at her.  All she could do was sob and apologize.  “Do you spill drinks on all your customers or just the humans?  Do you think you’re better than us?  Huh?!  Answer me!”

Tsubaki sat up and glared at the man.  “Mors’ Regular Army.  Anger.  An emotion I don’t envy.”

Maka pushed herself from the bar and stormed up to the soldier, slapping his hand and making him drop the girl’s pigtail.  “That’s enough.  You are harassing this girl, leave at once.”

The man’s friends all stood up, looking like they were ready for a fight.  He simply growled at her and motioned for the others to follow him out, muttering something about “bioroid scum”.

Maka turned her attention back to the waitress, now on the ground cleaning up shards of broken glass.  “Are you hurt?” she asked, holding out a hand to help her up.

“I’m fine, really.  It was my fault, I should have been more careful.”  She dumped the glass in a nearby garbage can and turned back to the blonde.  “Thank you for helping me, Miss Albarn.”

She should have been more used to people knowing her name by now, but it still took everything to not ask how she knew her.  “It’s okay, I was happy to help, Miss…”

“Tsugumi,” she answered with a blush.  “Harudori.  I’d better get back to work though, thank you again.” 

She watched the girl bounce away to grab a broom in order to finish cleaning up the glass.  Tsubaki grabbed the blonde’s hand.  “Look at you, hero!” she giggled.

“It was just the right thing to do.  I don’t understand why humans react so negatively to bioroids…”

“I can sort of understand.  Here, let’s talk about this outside, okay?” Tsubaki said, leading them out of the bar.  “Humans feel threatened by our existence, thinking that someday we will rebel and take over.  In order to prevent this, the D Tank was created at the top of City Hall.  It contains a virus that, if released, would wipe out the bioroid population.”  She stopped in her tracks for a moment.  “I know it’s man’s need for self-preservation, but it doesn’t make it any less insulting…”

Maka took her hand.  “It won’t come to that.  I promise.”  She would protect the bioroids, especially since one was now her friend.  She smiled at the thought of Tsubaki as her new friend.  Heaven knew she could use a few of those.

…

Members of the Regular Army stood at salute as they watched a helicopter land.  A blonde woman walked out onto the platform, the decorations on her uniform indicating the rank of General.  A male soldier fell out of line to follow her to a car waiting for her.

“Maka Albarn has signed on with Spartoi, just as we thought,” he informed her.  “Everything is falling into place.”

“Good,” she replied, crawling into the back seat.  “Follow through with the plan, Colonel Free.  I will not stand by and watch bioroids make us into their tools.”  She slammed the door, and the vehicle pulled away from him. 

Once it was out of sight, he grinned.  “Guess it’s time, huh?”

…

Maka stared up at her new Landmate in awe as she waited for its mechanic to arrive.  Motorcycles were one thing, but this was another.  Given a little tutorial, she was certain she could figure it out, though.  The sound of footsteps shifted her attention to one of the hallways.  She was surprised to find Soul there.  “Come to congratulate me?” she asked.

He tossed something at her.  “Came to give you a gift.”  She caught it and discovered it was a pendant.  “When I came to the city to find Kami Albarn, she was already gone, right?  Found that with a note at her place.  Said to give it to you.”

“It’s from my mother…?” she asked before placing it around her neck.  She fingered it delicately.  “It’s beautiful…”

“She’d… be proud, I think…” he said, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. 

She smiled at him before remembering Tsubaki’s words at the bar the other day.  Her face blushed furiously, and she directed her attention back to the Landmate, hoping he hadn’t seen.  “Black Star’s supposed to show me how to pilot one of these.”

“Not too tough.  You should be able to handle it.”

They stood in silence for a moment before Black Star and Tsubaki entered the hangar, deep in discussion.  “’Bout time you showed up!” Black Star shouted at Maka. 

“I’m the one who’s been waiting!”

He walked past her and placed a hand protectively on the Landmate, glaring at her.  “Look here, girly, this baby is not cheap or easy to repair, you got me?  Take care of my baby!”

“Yeah yeah, just show me how to pilot this thing, okay?”

The mechanic pressed a few buttons along the side to open the cockpit.  “I gotta readjust the seat for you, so it’ll take a minute.”  She climbed in and waited for him to set everything up.  “Okay, this is the ignition sequence for the engine,” he explained, pressing the sequence in Maka’s control panel.  “Kay, you should be good to go.  Try getting a feel for it.”  He moved out of the way, motioning for the other two to step back.

Maka moved the controls, making the arms move, finally moving the machine from its sitting position.  “Not tough at all, like you said,” she said, smiling at Soul. 

Red lights began flashing in the hangar, making Maka stop her test.  A voice announced over the intercom, “Code Red!  Code Red!  Unidentified Landmates have infiltrated the bioroid care center!  Multiple targets!  Spartoi pilots are to mobilize immediately!  I repeat: Code Red!  Code Red!  Unidentified Landma-“

Soldiers began piling into the hangar, each climbing into their own Landmates and heading out towards the care center.  Soul ran to one of the nearest Landmates to climb in himself.  “C’mon, are you coming with?” he shouted at Maka.

“She isn’t fully trained in using one yet!” Black Star objected.

“Consider this training,” Maka replied, closing the cockpit and following the others.


	5. The Will of Shibusen

An entire wall exploded, blowing away bioroid experts in the blast.  Bioroids and humans alike began panicking, racing for any and all exits.  Fire engulfed some of the incubating chambers.  A mech lobbed a few more rockets into the air, and the ceiling came crumbling down instantly.

Maka and the rest of the members of Spartoi finally arrived at the care center, guns ready to fire.  One of the enemy Landmates launched itself out of the building towards the group.  As the group steadied their aim on the mech, another two snuck up behind them.  They opened fire on Spartoi, destroying one of the mechs before picking up their partner and zooming past into the city.

“Follow me!” Maka called to Soul over the radio as she raced after them.

“Think you call the shots now, huh?” She could almost feel the smirk.

Helicopters also began to tail the enemy, but their guns were not strong enough to even slow them down.  One enemy unit turned around and blew one of the helicopters right out of the sky.  The mech was met with a blast from Maka as she finally figured out how to shoot her own guns.  The three units split, Maka and Soul following two of them.

She followed her target to a parking garage, careful to hide behind the corner to plan her next move.  A few more helicopters came to the area.  “Get out of here!” she shouted at them over the radio, but it was too late.  The enemy shot them both down.  She whipped around the corner and opened fire.  The damage it sustained stopped it long enough for her to get in range and rip one of the arms off.  She knocked it over, weapons locked on the mech.  “Dismount, now!” she ordered the pilot.

Before the pilot could do as she instructed, one of his comrades fired, destroying the mech and pilot inside.  The second Landmate continued down the street, Maka hot on its trail.  They exchanged fire as they maneuvered through the streets.  She knew it had to end here or more civilians would get hurt.  Hurling herself at the enemy, she was able to latch onto it.  The mech scraped her against the wall of one of the buildings, but she wouldn’t let go. 

Up ahead, she heard Soul yell her name.  She looked up to find him standing in the middle of the street, weapons aimed at them.  She released the mech and he released a rocket.  The shot missed, and the enemy knocked Soul away as it raced past.  She hurried to his side, watching as the mech got away.

She reached a mechanical hand toward him.  “You okay?”  He pushed it away and got up on his own.  “Guess we should head back and report, huh…?”

…

Black Star and Tsubaki stared in horror at the smoke coming off the bioroid care center.  He looked at her out of the corner of his eye.  If she could feel immense sadness, she would then and there.  He took her hand.  Even bioroids could feel pain, he knew that.  “Everything will be okay.  Soul and Maka, and everyone else, they’ll all be okay.  We’ll protect the bioroids.  I promise.”

She brought her free hand up to her temple, wincing slightly.  “I… I don’t feel so well…” she muttered before passing out.

Panic written on his face, he rushed to catch her in his arms.  “Tsubaki!  What’s wrong?!  Answer me!”  He shook her in an attempt to wake her.  A hologram appeared, circling around her wrist.  “Overdue” flashed in red.  “You were supposed to get your procedure done!  You were due three days ago!  Tsubaki!  Tsubaki, don’t leave me!”

…

Three figures walked into the remains of the bioroid care center.  Ochre eyes scanned the charred incubators.  The man sighed and ran a hand through his black hair.  “Who could have done this…?”

The shorter of his two female companions spoke up first.  “The third generation bioroids have all been destroyed… The fire also destroyed all original DNA for life-extension...”  She stared sadly at the hologram circling her wrist, numbers counting down to what was once supposed to be an appointment reminder.  Now they were the countdown to her demise.

The taller female stepped forward and placed a comforting hand on the other’s shoulder.  She turned to the man and continued the report.  “It looks like they came from an underground elevator shaft.  Mors’ perimeter shows no sign of entry.  The origin of the Landmates is unknown.”

The man glared at the scene once more before turning abruptly to leave.   “I want the perimeter around City Hall sealed off.   No one gets close to D Tank without my permission, understood?” he ordered, the women following closely behind.

…

All of Mors stood still as every eye was on whatever television set was closest to them.  Prime Minister Akihito appeared on the screen, face calm and collected.  He had to keep the public from panicking.  Taking a deep breath, he began to address the terrorist attack and what it meant for the future of bioroids.  “We have not yet identified the Landmates who attacked the bioroid care center.  We encourage all bioroids to remain calm during this trying time.  We are currently exploring all alternative methods for life extension.  Remember, panic will only worsen our cause.”  The camera panned to the members of Congress, waiting to see if any had something to add on the matter.

Carefully polished nails drummed next to a name plate reading “General Medusa Gorgon”.  She leaned forward, fingers laced and elbows propped on the desk in front of her.  “Prime Minister, by having Spartoi seal City Hall, haven’t you exceeded your authority as Prime Minister?”

Akihito stood his ground.  “The situation calls for near Marshall Law conditions.  What is most important now is the protection of Shibusen.”

“And not the D Tank?”

“Shibusen must be secured.”

Eyes glaring and words laced with venom, she pressed, “Without the aid of the Regular Army?”

“I stand by my decision.”

She could not keep her cool demeanor any longer.  Slamming her hands on the desk, she stood from her seat and shouted, “What are you saying?  Are you trying to humiliate us?!”

Shinigami raised a hand, and the camera panned to him.  “Now is not the time for arguing.  The future of the bioroid race has been threatened, as this terrorist attack is a blatant attempt of genocide.  It rocks the foundations of our society.  As it stands now, it appears that there is no hope for bioroids.”  He took a dramatic pause and smiled into the camera.  “But there is still hope.  There is a way to permanently restore biologic reproductive cycles to the bioroids, allowing them to live without the need for life-extension processes.  I have been discussing the pros and cons with Shibusen.  And Shibusen has decided.  We will restore all bioroid reproductive functions!”

The room exploded into discussion between Congress members about the reveal.  The streets were filled with their own discussions as well.  Medusa cleared her throat loudly to regain the attention of those in the room.  “It was my understanding that Dr. Kami Albarn destroyed the data necessary for the restoration of bioroid reproductive functions.”

Shinigami nodded.  “It was supposed to have been destroyed by Dr. Albarn.  However, it has recently come to my attention that this data, which had been named ‘Resonance’, is still in existence.  I am confident that Resonance will be recovered and bioroid reproductive functions restored.  They will become a new breed of man and be a shining light for our future!”

The room and the streets erupted in cheers from bioroids and many humans alike.  General Gorgon and Colonel Free shared a scowl.

…

“Tsubaki!” Maka shouted, throwing open the hospital door.  As soon as she and all of Spartoi had returned from their confrontation with the enemy Landmates, Black Star had informed her and Soul about Tsubaki and her life-extension procedure being overdue.  While the rest of Spartoi had been stationed at City Hall’s perimeter, Soul and Maka raced to the hospital to see Tsubaki.  They found her lying in a bioroid incubator, Shinigami, Akihito, and his bodyguards all in the room as well.  Maka fell to her knees next to her, hands pressed on the glass.  She turned her attention to Shinigami.  “Can you save her?”

He stared sadly at Tsubaki’s still body.  “If we can relocate Resonance, it should be able to save her life.”

“And if we don’t?”

The taller of Akihito’s bodyguards stepped forward.  “She’ll die in twenty-four hours.”

The shorter added, “It’s the fate all bioroids will face soon, now…”

“There is still hope.”  Akihito stepped towards Maka, offering her a hand off the floor.  She took it and rose to her feet.  “I am Prime Minister Akihito,” he introduced.  “I worked alongside your mother in the early stages of her bioroid research.  My bodyguards, Elizabeth and Patricia Thompson, are the first two bioroids to be created.”  Shock prevented her from replying.  “Shibusen has made its decision to relocate Dr. Albarn’s missing data.  And… I may have the information you need to find it…”


	6. The Secrets of Resonance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a warning, there are some character deaths in this chapter.

Maka turned over the disk in her hands.  “Even Akihito doesn’t know where she is…” she sighed.  “Maybe this will finally answer all my questions…”  The hallway of the hangar was quiet.  Her comrades were waiting for her, but she needed a moment to gather her thoughts before heading out to her mother’s secret lab.  Well, sort of secret lab.  The disk was given to her by Akihito.  It could only be viewed at the lab.  She worried about what she would find when she finally played what was on the disk.

The sound of footsteps shook her from her thoughts.  Soul appeared before her, concern etched on his face.  “You doing okay?”

“No,” she answered immediately.  “We have no idea what we’ll find there.  We don’t know if Resonance is even there.  What if I find out things I don’t want to know?  What if we don’t find Resonance?  What if Tsubaki dies?  I just-“

He wrapped his arms around her tight and refused to let go.  “Everything will be all right,” he whispered in her ear.  “You just have to have a little faith.”

Her heart fluttered as she remembered her conversation with Tsubaki at the bar.  Love had never been an emotion she had sought out like her friend did.  There were too many training sessions, too many missions, too many people trying to kill her.  Falling in love and trusting someone enough to catch her was more terrifying than any battlefield she had been on. 

He pulled away slightly, arms still around her.  Watching her intensely, he waited a moment before finally dropping his arms.  “We need to get going.  Don’t have much time.” 

Placing a hand over her heart, she tried to calm herself down.  Maybe she would have time to explore this new feeling later, but for now, she had a friend to save.

…

Raindrops pelted the helicopter as they finally touched down on the lab’s platform.  Out in the middle of the raging sea, the lab had not seen many visitors since its construction.  The storm made Maka a bit uneasy, making her rub her mother’s necklace to remain calm.  Each soldier turned on the flashlights mounted to their weapons as they entered the facility.  Soul stayed close to Maka, keeping an eye out for her.

They wandered the empty hallways, discovering some early versions of bioroid incubators, various desks, some test tubes, and paperwork that had been left unfinished.  Maka noticed a plaque on the wall next to one of the bigger offices.  Removing some dust, she read the words “Doctor Kami Albarn”.  “This must be the place,” she announced to the rest of the team.  They all entered the office cautiously.  Who knew what they would find there?

In the middle of the room was a desk, a large computer sitting on top.  Maka walked over and inserted the disk into one of the drives.  The lights in the room flickered for a moment and a hologram appeared. 

A blonde woman in a lab coat fiddled with a cabinet in the corner of the room, her movements shaky and quick, as if she was afraid to be found.  “Maka…” she said into what had been an empty room at the time of the recording.  “You are the key that can open the lock…”  The sound of racing footsteps turned her attention from the cabinet and to the office door.  Soldiers appeared in the doorway, guns trained on the doctor. 

“Don’t recognize the uniforms,” Soul whispered to Maka.  She nodded in agreement.

“Dr. Kami Albarn, we mean you no harm,” one of the soldiers announced.  “Please, give up the data and come quietly.  Just cooperate and no one will get hurt.”

“It’s too late!” the doctor shouted.  “Resonance has already been destroyed!  You came here for nothing!”

“Don’t lie to us!” a hot-headed soldier shouted, stepping closer to her.

Maka watched the scene play out in slow motion as soon as she saw her mother pull a gun out from under her lab coat.  “Don’t do it…  For the love of god, please… Don’t shoot!” she begged the hologram.

The hot-headed soldier opened fire at the sight of the handgun.  Kami began to fall, and Maka raced to catch her in her arms.  But her hologram mother fazed through her, dropping dead to the ground.  Tears fell from the young soldier’s eyes as the hologram faded, leaving only her and her team standing in the room.  Hands balled into fists, she fell to the floor and sobbed.  Soul kneeled down next to her, a comforting human hand on her back.  No one else moved, not knowing how to comfort the girl.

“Maka, I’m really sorry about your mother’s death…  But we are here on a mission.  You wanna save Tsubaki, right?  Save all the bioroids?”  She looked up at him, wiping tears from her eyes, and nodded.  “Good.  Should check out that cabinet Dr. Albarn was looking at at the start of the recording.  She said you were the key…”

Soul helped her off the ground and the two made their way over to the cabinet.  Maka opened it and found another computer, prompting a password.  “I am the key…?” she thought out loud, her voice still shaky from her crying.  She tried typing in her name.  Immediately, access was granted, and once again the room flickered to life as another hologram played.  Her mother stood next to her desk.  An image of the pendant Maka now wore around her neck displayed on the screen.

“Maka, listen to me, this information is very important.  This pendant contains important data from my research.  Someone is trying to use it to do terrible things.  They want to take away your future.  I am leaving it at my home for you, disguised as a gift.  It is my hope that you have found it and have kept it safe.  The only person you should ever give it to is Akihito, and only if he asks for it.  He was my assistant for a long time, and I trust him.  Do not give the pendant to anyone else, only to Akihito, understood?”  Kami closed out of the image of the pendant and smiled to herself.  “Maka… I love you so much.  I am so proud of you.”  Once again, the hologram faded away.

Fresh tears stung her eyes, but Maka refused to let them spill over.  She wrapped her hand around the pendant.  “I’ve had Resonance this whole time…” she said in shock.

“Better hurry.  Akihito is waiting for us to return with that data,” Soul said, moving towards the door.  He stopped as a light shined in from outside.  Mutliple helicopters surrounded the lab.  “The Regular Army?  How’d they know we were here?”

Ox watched them through the window.  “They’ve got the dock completely blocked.  We’re going to have to find another way out.”

“Looked like there was an access stairway to the roof,” Soul replied.  “We can counter them from there.”

The quietest of their team blocked the door.  “I’m really sorry about this…” Crona stuttered.  “I couldn’t go against her orders…”  He pressed a button on his watch and spoke into it, “We’re on the third level, in the largest office.”

“You bastard!” Kilik shouted.  “You betrayed us!”

“I’m so sorry…” Crona repeated, hanging his head as Regular Army soldiers filed into the room.  Finally, Colonel Free entered the room, and the door was shut.

He smirked.  “Is it really that surprising that there was a mole on your team?  Besides, the real traitor is right there!”  He pointed at Soul.  “Looks like you made the mistake of trusting your subordinates, Maka.  Just like your father.”

“What are you talking about?” she spat.

“Let me spell it out for you.  The terrorist attack on the care center?  Soul tipped us off to the underground elevator.”  Free laughed at the look of shock on her face.  “Don’t look so surprised!  You saw how easily he let my Landmate go, didn’t you?”  She looked at Soul in horror and stepped away from him.  The colonel aimed his gun at her.  “Now, if you don’t mind, I’ll be taking that pendant now.”

Maka glared at him a moment, refusing to move even as he brought the gun closer to her face.  Suddenly, Ox kicked the gun from Free’s hands and aimed his own gun at the colonel’s head.  “Get to the roof, hurry!  Don’t worry about me!”

Soul grabbed her arm as the rest of the team hurried out of the office towards the roof.  “We need to go!  You can be pissed at me later!” he shouted at her when she ripped her arm from his grasp.  She nodded and followed him up the nearby flight of stairs.

Shots fired behind them, and Maka turned to see what was happening.  Ox fell out of the office, full of holes.  “Ox!” she cried, rooted to her spot on the stairs.

“C’mon!  We have to leave him, he’s gone!” the cyborg shouted, once again pulling her arm.  Reluctantly, she made her way to the roof with him.

Somehow they had lost the rest of their team once they made it to the roof.  Maka raced to the edge of the platform and aimed her gun at Soul.  “Stay back!” she ordered.

He reached out to her.  “Give me the pendant!  If you have it, you’ll never be safe!”

With one hand, she clutched the pendant.  “My mother gave her life to protect Resonance, and so will I!”

The Regular Army caught up with them, complete with Colonel Free and General Gorgon herself.  She stepped forward and smiled at Maka.  “Maka Albarn?  I am General Medusa Gorgon, Commander of the Regular Army.  You must understand that we have no intension of harming you.  We only want to see that data destroyed.  Our goal is to regain control of the legislature and destroy the D Tank, thus ridding the world of the bioroids.  Society will once again be in human control.  The only thing standing in the way is that data!  Now please, hand it over without further incident!”

“Request denied!”

Free growled at her and stepped forward, but Medusa held out an arm to order him back.  “You mustn’t trust bioroids!” she continued.  “They want to control us!”

Maka held her ground.  “Maybe you’re right, maybe bioroids can’t be trusted.  But after all I’ve seen, I know this much… Bioroids don’t try to kill each other!”

“Kami Albarn gave her life to protect Resonance, because she was afraid of what might happen if the bioroids were fully restored!” Soul shouted at Medusa, taking a step towards her.

“Because bioroids represent a threat to our race!”

“No!  Their whole purpose is to safeguard our species!”  He looked over his shoulder to look at Maka.  “I cooperated with Free in the terrorist attack to force Akihito’s hand.  I knew he had some information regarding Resonance and that he would only reveal it in a dire situation.  Shinigami promised me that if I brought Resonance to him, he could promise your safety, and I could fulfill my promise to your mother!”  Turning back to Medusa, he shouted, “Can’t you see there’s more going on here?  Shinigami doesn’t just want the Resonance data.  He needed you and the regular army to conduct a coup.  He wants you to blow up the D Tank!  And there must be some reason Akihiito is so desperate to keep that from happening!”

A shot through his kneecap brought Soul to the ground.  “I’ve had enough of this!” Free shouted.  “And I’ll be damned if I let some machine tell us what to do!”  He shot again, his bullet bouncing off Soul’s metal arm.  “Your father was the one to kick me out of the LVMPD SWAT team, Maka.  Do you know how humiliating that was?!  I wanted to make him pay for all the misery he caused… So when we met again on the battlefield, and I found him injured, I left him there to die.  My only regret is that it wasn’t my bullet that killed him!”  He moved to aim his gun at Maka.  “And now, all those filthy bioroids have his DNA in them!  Every one of them!  Once the bioroids are dead, and you along with them, Spirit’s legacy will be erased!”  He took careful aim and pulled the trigger.

Soul quickly rushed to her, shielding her from the bullets as the rest of the soldiers fired on them, and pushed them both over the edge of the platform.  As they began their fall into the ocean below, Maka fired at Free, lodging a bullet in his skull and knocking him backwards, dead.  The soldiers ran to the edge and fired blindly into the swirling, dark waves below.


	7. Broken Seal

Coughing and sputtering, Maka was able to drag Soul up to the shore before lying out on the sand to catch her breath.  She turned to look at him, not even caring that the sand stuck to her face.  He was lucky to be a cyborg.  Most of the bullets had bounced off the parts of him that were machine, but a few had managed to lodge themselves in his more human parts.

“You should have left me,” he said weakly.  “Wouldn’t have blamed you…”

She sat up and moved towards him.  “Don’t say things like that.  I won’t leave you.”

“Need to get out of here…”

“Not without you.”  She took his right hand and squeezed it comfortingly.  Somehow she was able to force a smile for him.  “You’re going to be okay, you hear me?”

He looked at her in a way he never had before.  “Your mother… she asked that if I ever met you that I’d take care of you.  But when I finally did meet you… I made a promise for myself that I would take care of you.  Not for her.  Because you were special.”

She squeezed his hand again.  “Stop talking, okay?  Help will come soon.”

“I did some terrible things, Maka…” he continued.  “I just wanted to protect you… but I can’t anymore…”

“You need to stop talking!”

“Shinigami promised no loss of human life.  But something’s not right.  Need to leave m-“

He felt her lips on his suddenly.  She pulled back just as quickly as she had leaned in.  “Someone will come looking for us, and we’ll save Tsubaki and everyone, okay?  Just hang on.”  She lay down next to him, hand still in his, waiting for help to come.

And finally it did, in the form of a blue hair mechanic in a helicopter.  Once the vehicle had safely landed, Black Star ran to them, dropping to his knees with an emergency kit next to Soul.  “You gotta get outta here, Maka,” he ordered.  “There’s a Landmate in the helicopter.  She’s got full gas, so you should get there fine.  This one flies, so going over water shouldn’t be a problem.  Everyone but you guys, Ox, and Crona got back safe.  They told me what happened.”  He got quiet suddenly.  “I’m really sorry…”

“Ox did what he knew was right…” Maka replied.

“Him and your mother…”  Black Star checked over Soul quietly for a moment before turning to Maka again.  “You go take care of Tsubaki, now that you have Resonance.  I’ll take care of this guy, don’t worry.”  She nodded and glanced at Soul one more time before running towards the helicopter.  The mechanic shouted after her, “I know that bioroid emotions are supposed to be suppressed, but they can still love, you know?  Save her!  I wouldn’t know what to do without her!”

She strapped herself into the Landmate and exited the helicopter.  “Same goes for that guy there,” she called back.  “Get him better soon.  He owes me a date after this is all said and done.”  And with that, she headed back to Mors.

“Hear that, you lucky son of a bitch?  You got yourself a date,” he chuckled at the cyborg.

“Guess you better get me outta here.  Don’t wanna be late.”  Soul smiled.

…

Akihito and his bodyguards were waiting at the landing platform when she finally touched down.  Exiting the Landmate, Maka ran to them.  “Is Tsubaki still alive?!  Am I too late?!” she asked.

Akihito raised a hand to calm her.  “She will be fine.  Now, where is the data?”  She unclasped the necklace and placed it in his hand.  “The pendant?  This was a gift from your mother, I…  I should have guessed she would leave it in your care.”

“You knew… didn’t you…?”

“About your mother’s death?  Yes.  I saw what was on the disk.  I figured the other message she’d left you was for your eyes only, so I never returned to the lab.”  Closing his hand around the pendant, he continued, “I am so sorry.  I wasn’t sure how to break the news to you.”

“It’s okay.  Just… please, save Tsubaki.”

He nodded and motioned for Liz and Patty to follow him.  While she waited for news on Tsubaki, Maka decided to meet with Shinigami and discover for herself what the man was hiding.  She was allowed entrance into Shinigami’s office and was welcomed instantly by the old man. 

“Well done, Maka!  You’ve saved them, saved them all!  The bioroids will have full reproductive functions once they are updated with the Resonance data.  They’ll be able to live like humans do, all thanks to you!”

“So, what comes next then?” she asked, a scowl on her face despite the good news. 

“Now?  Well… now the human race can slowly vanish into history…”

“What do you mean?”

Shinigami’s chair hovered closer to Shibusen’s screen.  “I have been in debate with Shibusen for some time now.  Remember, it was created to monitor the effects of bioroids on humans, to see if humans will ever change their ways.  But I have lived long enough to tell you that humans will never change.  Shibusen has seen this, and it has made an accurate prediction that in just three generations, the human race will annihilate itself and destroy the planet.  Shibusen has made the decision to release the D Tank.”

She balled her hands into fists and shouted at him, “What was the point of finding Resonance if you planned on releasing the D Tank and killing all the bioroids anyway?!”

“You misunderstand.  The D Tank has never housed a virus meant for bioroids.  Rather, it is a virus that makes every human it comes in contact with… infertile.  There is enough housed in the D Tank to blanket the earth, thus slowly euthanizing the human race.”  He hovered closer to her, careful not to get too close in case she was to become violent at what he had said.  “I promised no loss of human life.  Instead, we will simply cease to exist and let bioroids pave the way to a better future.”

“Is that why you murdered my mother?!” she shrieked, lunging for him.  “Because she knew you planned to use her research to kill the humans, and she refused to give you the Resonance data?!”

He floated safely away.  “Please understand that your mother’s death was an accident.  We meant no harm to come to her.  Her research was invaluable to all of Mors, and if she was alive today, we may have had other options.  She helped design Mors.  And there were two outcomes in mind when it was built.  A place where humans and bioroids coexisted with one another or one that led the way to a new race.  Your mother also helped build Shibusen.  She made certain that D Tank could not be released by the will of human or bioroid.  It has to be released with permission from Shibusen.  And with the anger and violence towards bioroids that General Gorgon and the Regular Army have exhibited, Shibusen has decided to give me permission to release D Tank.”

“This was all your doing, wasn’t it…?”  Everything Soul had said to her, about Shinigami’s promise to him, how he was suspicious of his intentions; they all flooded back to her.  “I was the bait, wasn’t I?  You manipulated Soul into doing what you wanted by promising my safety!  You let the Regular Army follow through with their terrorist attacks to force Shibusen into making these decisions!  You manipulated Shibusen!!”

Shinigami floated over to one of the walls as a panel moved, revealing a red button.  “You must understand that this is the human race’s destiny.  When I push this button, D Tank will be released, and the virus will envelope the earth-“

A shot was fired, destroying the button.  Maka turned around to find Liz holding a smoking gun, Patty and Akihito behind her.  “That is enough, Father,” Akihito said calmly.  “That button has now been made inactive.”

“What do you think you’re doing, all of you?” the old man asked, coming down from the wall.

“Our whole point is to protect the human race, right?” Liz replied.  “Can’t have you ‘euthanizing’ them now, can we?”

“Shibusen has decided!  Its anger goes beyond General Gorgon’s actions and encompasses the sins of all humanity!”

Patty stepped forward to speak up.  “General Gorgon just surrendered and seeks full reconciliation.”

“Correct,” Akithito added.  “The coup d’état is over.  I’m sure Shibusen would have sensed this and taken back its decision.  And Father… you knew it would, so you shut it down.”

Shinigami floated closer to Shibusen’s screen and began typing on the keyboard.  “This changes nothing.  It is time for man to step aside and let the bioroids take over.”  A rumble could be heard in the distance, shockwaves reaching City Hall.  “I’ve just activated the mobile fortresses around Mors.  They will destroy the D Tank, and nothing can stop them now…”

“I thought nothing to get through the security system around D Tank!” Maka exclaimed.

“A close-range shot from one of those things could be enough,” Liz answered.

Akihito turned to his bodyguards.  “I want the city evacuated immediately.  Once the fortresses have reached an evacuated area, we can use any means necessary to take them down.”

“Focus on platform seven!” a weak voice called from the door.  Tsubaki leaned on the frame, newly restored from her procedure.  “If someone can disable the control box on platform seven, it will shut down all the fortresses.  The sequence is specific, so you can’t just destroy it.  It needs a password, and the password is ‘Tsubaki’.”

A blast from the outside of City Hall blew a hole in the wall.  Once the dust cleared, Maka looked up to find Soul in one of the new, flying Landmates Black Star had built, the mechanic himself in one of his own behind the cyborg.  “Soul!  You’re alive!”

“You asked, and I delivered!” Black Star laughed.  He saw Tsubaki in the doorway and rushed to her, leaping out of his Landmate once he was safely inside the building.  He mouthed a “thank you” over his shoulder to Maka before turning back to Tsubaki to help her stand.

“Well, don’t just stand there!” Soul called to Maka.  “Take Star’s Landmate, let’s go!”

She nodded at him with a smile and rushed toward the Landmate.  Shinigami shouted to her, “Can’t you see this is futile?  Humans will destroy the earth!”

She stopped and glanced over her shoulder at the old man.  “So you just want to give up and pass on our mistakes to the next race?  Well, I’m not giving up!  We have to have faith!  Believe that the future is what we make of it!”  And with that, she climbed into the mech and jumped out the hole after Soul.


	8. The True New Race of Man

Civilians ran rampant in the streets, trying to follow military personnel out of the city while still in a panic.  The mobile fortresses, eight in all, slammed their enormous feet into the ground, destroying whole roads and buildings in one movement.  They let nothing, neither a fleet of armed tanks nor the crunch of a poor soul trapped beneath their feet, stand between them and their objective.  The order for the destruction of the D Tank had been given.  And only Maka had the key to halt the order. 

“Squad Leader, I’m headed for number seven!” she announced over the radio as she and Soul advanced towards the fortresses.  “Now we just have to find it…”

“There between six and eight!” Soul shouted.  The other fortresses were spread out, their numbers painted along the sides of their metal bodies, but platforms six, seven, and eight made their way towards City Hall in a tight group.  “Shinigami must have programmed them to protect the control box!”

Rung and a few others in Landmates rushed past the group of fortresses.  “Five is advancing, focus it!”

“No!  Focus six and eight!” Maka shouted.  “Bring them down!”

Pausing for a moment, Rung growled before turning around towards six.  “This plan of yours better work, Albarn!”  He and his men opened fire on platform six, aiming for the legs.  If they could not destroy it, they could at least keep it from reaching the D Tank.  One final rocket destroyed a portion of the platform’s leg and sent it tumbling to the ground.  “Heading to eight now, get to that damn box!”

Soul pulled up ahead of Maka.  “Go find it, I’ll distract seven!”

The head of her mech nodded to him before she dove for the ground below platform seven.  She watched its guns aim for him, bullets narrowly missing, as she searched for the control box.  For a moment she worried that Tsubaki had told her the wrong platform number, but soon she spotted the box.  As she made her way towards it, platform eight found her.  Just as Rung’s men brought down its legs, the platform fired at her.  Its bullets just grazed her as she grabbed hold of a bar on platform seven.  Despite not receiving the attack head-on, her Landmate was severely damaged.  There was no way she could continue safely in the mech.

And so she took a leap of faith out of the cockpit, reaching for another hold on the platform with her human hands.  The mech fell to the city floor below, and she pulled herself up towards the control box.

“All but platforms six and eight have reached City Hall,” she heard Soul’s voice over the radio.  “They’re starting to climb!  Maka, do it!”

With the press of a button, the control box came to life, a computer screen prompting her to follow the shut down sequence.  Spartoi continued shouting orders over the radio as she broke through two of the three overrides.  Platforms three and five reached the top of the enormous building, revealing even larger weaponry than they had used prior to their ascent.  As she got through the final override, the shut down button was released for her to press.  The screen asked her to input the password.  With only the letters “Tsub” typed in, a stray bullet from one of the other fortresses hit the box, scrambling most of the screen.  Maka managed to enter the letter “a” before the keyboard refused to enter any more.

“C’mon, work!  What is happening?!” she shrieked as she mashed the letters “ki”.  Only “Tsuba” remained on the screen.  She slammed her hand down on the shut down button, hoping that the box had picked up the final letters of the password.  “INCORRECT PASSWORD” flashed on the screen.  “It isn’t working!  I don’t know what to do!” she shouted over the radio as she typed in “Tsuba” again.

“Keep trying!  We have to stop them!” Soul shouted to her as he neared her.  Suddenly, the platform shot at him, his Landmate taking a direct hit.  The mech fell apart around him, allowing him to escape before it exploded into a fireball beneath him.

Time stood still for a moment as Maka rushed to catch him, forgetting about the password for a moment.  She managed to grab his arm, not quite ready for his full weight but still keeping her foothold on the platform.

“Maka, let me go!”

“Forget it!  I’m not losing you again!” she shouted back at him as she struggled to reach the keyboard once more.  She pressed the next letter, the letter “k” appearing on the screen.  She felt her foothold slip a moment, and the keyboard became too far for her to reach.  She chanced a glance up to platforms three and five as their guns readied their final attack.  They were out of time.

“Just let me go!  Think of who’s more important here!”

 Ignoring Soul’s pleads for her to drop him, she continued to reach for the control box.  “Mama… help me…” she breathed.

The screen flashed “Tsubaki” for a moment before turning green and giving her full access to the shut down button.  Just within reach of the button, she smashed her fist into it.

Immediately, the guns on the fortresses powered down.  The city, covered in smoke and debris, stood silent for a moment.  The legs beneath all the remaining fortresses collapsed beneath them, keeping them rooted to where they stood.

“All of the fortresses have shut down!  D Tank is secure!” Rung announced over the radio.  All of Spartoi shouted out in rejoice as citizens of Mors cautiously crept back into the streets.

Able to use both her hands again, Maka pulled Soul up onto the platform with her.  Feet securely on the metal body, he tackled her in a hug.  “I knew you could do it,” he whispered in her ear.  She smiled, wrapping her arms around him.  Wind whipped around them, and they parted to find a helicopter had come to their rescue.

Black Star and Tsubaki smiled at them as a door opened to let the two pilots aboard.  “Get a room, you two!” the mechanic cackled, patting the cyborg on the back once they were safely inside.  Maka simply rolled her eyes and moved to hug Tsubaki, fully recovered from her procedure.

“We were all so worried,” Tsubaki said, wiping tears from her eyes.  “But I had faith.  I knew you wouldn’t let us down.”

“Thanks for that,” Maka replied.  As the helicopter pulled away from City Hall, she stared at the holes made by the fortresses and remembered that there had still been people inside.  “What about Akihito?!  The girls!  Shinigami!  They were all-“

“Liz, Patty, and Akihito are all fine,” Tsubaki reassured her.  “They were evacuated before the fortresses reached City Hall.  But Shinigami…”  The bioroids eyes dropped to the floor of the helicopter.

“He… didn’t make it out…?”

Black Star set a hand on her arm.  “He was an old geezer.  Should have been dead long ago, but Shibusen had him on life support.  When he shut it down, he knew he was going down, too.  He was dead before the fortresses even got there.  Nothing we coulda done.”

Maka went silent for a moment, trying to make sense of all that had happened.  “But… if no one was at the computer when they got to City Hall… The final letter of the password…”

“It’s been left to us now,” Soul interrupted her.  He held her hand tightly.  “We’ve got a future to protect, right?”

She looked around to all of her comrades, all her friends.  A smile crept to her face, and she nodded.

...

_It’s not as if anything has changed, and the sins of humanity may only get worse.  But there’s always a chance the next generation will learn from our mistakes.  Because they are the true new race of man.  So I’ll keep fighting, for our children’s sake._


End file.
